Business and Peace

​​​​​​​​​​​What roles do businesses play in facilitating peace? While business-conflict ties are well-researched, the more aspirational elements of business engagements in peacebuilding - including both operational and philanthropic activities - are less understood. In addition, local, national and multinational businesses all engage with conflict actors differently, which may make for unique opportunities for each as they navigate within conflict and peacebuilding processes. This research group aims to explore the spectrum of business and peacebuilding, from business influences on interstate conflicts to their role in local settings, including both qualitative and quantitative streams. ​

The work of the Business and Peace research group is primarily focused on (but not limited to) three overarching themes, each of which house many different research agenda items.

The role and effectiveness of multinational corporations and local businesses as peace actors, through their operational, philanthropic, and Corporate Social Responsibility ventures.

Efforts by international institutions, non-governmental organizations and governments to encourage businesses to play more extensive roles in peacebuilding.

​The role and effectiveness of businesses as peacebuilding actors in local communities beset by conflict or otherwise classified as hosting volatile environments or complex emergencies.

PRIO's work on Business and Peace engages scholars from the fields of Anthropology, Sociology, History, Political Science, Philosophy, Development Studies, International Relations and other disciplines. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, PRIO's research on Business and Peace attempts to better understand how businesses can help to both build peace and limit their own negative operational impacts.

Blog Posts

Vladivostok, which had an expensive facelift for the 2012 APEC summit, will this week host the Eastern Economic Forum, and President Vladimir Putin is due to preside over the proceedings. His goal is to reassert Russia’s commitment to playing a major role in Asia-Pacific geopolitics and to reinvigorate business ties with this dynamic region. The provisional results of Russia’s “pivot” to the East, launched two and a half years ago against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict, are nevertheless quite disappointing. Not only has the volume of trade shrunk by about a third in this time, but Moscow’s ability to ...

The Somali conflict has affected Somali citizens inside and outside the Somali region for over 25 years. While Somaliland and Puntland have enjoyed relative stability for more than two decades, conditions are much more fragile in south-central Somalia, and residents in many parts of the Somali region face considerable levels of insecurity still. In late 2012, however, the first permanent central government since the start of the civil war was installed in Mogadishu. This increased expectations that south-central Somalia is transitioning towards greater stability and created hope amongst the Somali diaspora. Since 2011-2012, the number of people returning to south-central ...

Deadly heat exposes Pakistan’s power problems. This summer CNBC run a report titled Deadly heat exposes Pakistan’s power problems after more than a thousand people died during heatwaves during the first days of Ramadan. Insufficient preparedness for the heatwave is largely seen as the cause of deaths, yet the context of the protracted electricity crisis in Pakistan is also widely connected with the scale of deaths and hospitalization during this summer’s heatwave. Pakistan’s energy crisis has worsened over the past few years, with increasing gaps between electricity supply and demand in the country. The crisis has been reported on in ...

In most post-conflict contexts, returning diaspora members contribute to reconstruction efforts; including through investments in businesses. While many invest in traditional ventures, others introduce new ideas for entrepreneurship. In Somalia, diaspora businesses are visible and valued; especially for their development and peacebuilding potential. The conflict has affected Somali citizens inside and outside the Somali region for over 25 years. With the cautious optimism about developments in south-central Somalia in the last few years, however, we see the number of people returning to the region increasing considerably. Full daily flights into Mogadishu offered by Turkish Airlines attest to this. Returning for ...

These days, the Business for Peace Symposium is happening in Oslo. Business leaders from all over the world are gathered to discuss how business can contribute to peace and hinder conflict. Some of the most distinguished guests have arrived from Cyprus, namely Manthos Mavrommatis, Honorary President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Vargin Varer, Vice President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce. The Cyprus issue is currently at its most critical conjuncture for at least a decade. It is indeed only the second time in 40 years that the prospects of a solution might actually be ...